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UtahHunting

New member
Good day gentlemen,

I have not added a black powder revolver for a few years now and I ran across this one and could not pass it up. I am not a big brass frame guy but I figured what the heck.

Based on the markings I think it is from 1963 imported by Navy Arms. It is a .36 caliber. I believe the gun is an 1851 Griswold & Gunnison (correct me if I am wrong). I do not think the gun has ever been fired, just a bit dirty from storage. I probably overpaid for it at $125 but it is only money right? and I wanted a .36 to go with the collection.

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To my novice eye it looks like a Griswold to me. Nice piece. I love the way the brass is tarnished, looks GREAT! Maybe I'll take the brasser off the wall and let it tarnish up a bit. I guess they get like that from not being polished with anything. Anyway LET THE SHOOSHTING BEGIN :D And let us know how it does. We like range reports ;)
 
Congrats on your find.

You are correct, it's a Griswold & Gunnison. What are the markings on it that might lead us to who made it? Being it's from around 1963, it could be a Gregorelli & Uberti.

Love the big bead front sight. It probably got added at some point.
 
Top of the barrel says Navy Arms Co Ridgefield, NJ ~Italy~
There are markings on the right side of the frame below the cylinder PN XIX (I believe the XIX is a 1963 stamp) There is a very small star above the PN and to the left of that there is a stamp that looks like it might be a crest with 2 swords crossed?
 
I got the same one. It's a Navy arms Griswold. If you look at the back of the cylinder with a magnifying glass, you should be able to see the F.L.II. Pietta diamond with the initials in it. the proof marks for mine was on the front of the cylinder, and the serial # on the side of it. At $125, you did not do bad at all. You actually got it pretty cheap! Great gun, I truly do love mine, it has been my primary shooter of Late.
 
Thanks for the info Brazosdave. I am looking forward to getting it out to the range. I bought some .375 round balls but they appear to be too small. Going to order some .380 since there are none sold locally.
 
Be sure to let us know how accurate she is. And, I'll second Doc, you didn't pay too much for it.
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Will be sure and do that. I ordered 200 .380 round balls today from trackofthewolf. As soon as they get here I am off to the range!
 
Utah - I had a Navy Arms brasser like yours only mine had a shorter round barrel - more like the "Sheriffs Model" that some mfgs. are peddling today. Mine was also .36 (I love Navy caliber) and it was a nice shooting little gun - never had a problem with it. Like an idiot though, I traded it off on a vintage 38 spl. Colt. I love the Colt but I miss the one I traded off. I think you did well on the price and you got yourself a good shooter. Congrats on your find! Enjoy and have fun!
 
I absolutely LOVE the looks of a brass frame, and the G&G looks better than a '51 with the round barrel, but I stick with steel because when I go shooting, it's usually several hundred balls in one session....NICE GUN!!!!!
 
I shot a full cabella size flask of powder through my Griswold and my Leech & Rigdon today, I only shoot 20 grns Pyrodex P so I don't think I'm causing any undo stress on the brasser. That being said, I wish the darn things wouldn't shoot so high! I'm sure there is a way to do the sights to fix that, but I guess I'm just stuck aiming about 4 inches low and to the right.
 
I landed on the 1860s and have never had any interest in the 51s or their copies.
Does the fact that it has a round barrel make it a G & G?
 
No, it's the brass frame. All of these are pretty similar and have a dragoon style barrel. Note the brass frame only on the griswold. The leech and Rigdon and Ansley are very similar to each other even more, but note mass of bolt stop positions on the Ansley over the Leech.

Leech.
leech%20and%20rigdon-01.jpg

Dance Bros.
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Griswold&Gunnison
griswold&gunnison.jpg


Ansley
lf
 
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